AWAY GOALS RULE: Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United turnaround proves delusion of those backing Qatari-ownership
With so much at stake, it is worth scrutinising a huge sliding-doors moment for the Red Devils
Before we begin tackling today’s newsletter I’d like to welcome back readers.
Those of you who are still subscribed from before, thanks for sticking around and I hope you stay for what’s to come.
But as a general introduction, I have added greater detail to the About page of this newsletter, which can be found here.
Essentially, I am writing a weekly newsletter under two banners — one for football called Away Goals Rule and one for Formula 1 called Final Corner, Chequered Flag.
Each week will rotate each topic and this week I am starting with football by taking a look at the Qatar situation that Manchester United now finds itself involved with…
Finally there is a sense of optimism ringing around Old Trafford.
Erik ten Hag’s arrival in the summer was met with a dismal start following two disastrous performances against Brighton and Brentford.
Only six months later and things are looking so much brighter than almost any United supporter could have imagined.
The team is still competing on four fronts with a huge week ahead with a European tie at home to Barcelona on Thursday before a cup final at Wembley on Sunday against Newcastle, as the Dutchman oversees a drastic and improved style of play from previous coaches.
However, off the pitch, things are in just as interesting a state of flux.
After nearly 18 years of ownership, the Glazers are now as close to a sale of the club as they’ve ever been.
An informal deadline for bids was set for last Friday evening, with two main contenders emerging with official offers — although the Wall Street Journal has claimed there were also offers from parties who preferred not to make their interest public.
The bid from British businessman Jim Ratcliffe was no surprise as the 70-year old announced ahead of time his intent to attempt a takeover of the club.
It was the only other public offer, from Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani — the son of ex-Qatar prime minister Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani — that raised a lot of eyebrows.
It had been reported by numerous outlets that a Qatari offer was being considered but conflicting stories emerged regarding the validity of that rumour and the source of any potential offer.
But Al Thani emerged late on Friday with a statement confirming his bid to the Glazers.
"The bid will be completely debt free via Sheikh Jassim's Nine Two Foundation, which will look to invest in the football teams, the training centre, the stadium and wider infrastructure, the fan experience and the communities the club supports,” wrote the statement.
This announcement has split the Manchester United fanbase, with The Athletic’s polling of their readers suggesting that two thirds of supporters are in favour of Ratcliffe’s offer, which consists of him bidding for 69 per cent of the club (nice).
But the author of most of that publication’s writing on the ownership situation, Laurie Whitwell, opened up on the flak he has received from other supporters on social media who are in favour of the Qatari-influenced bid.
Just as there are plenty of United fans who are concerned over what the Arab state’s intentions are by looking to take over the club, there are also plenty who are clamouring to have the team’s identity and history used for soft power by Qatar, a la Newcastle United with Saudi Arabia, Manchester City with Abu Dhabi and PSG also with Qatar.
But there are numerous reasons why the clamouring from real people for Qatar to take over the club is a nonsensical position that deserves scrutiny.
One such argument put forward claims that state involvement is needed in order to compete with the three aforementioned clubs.
But the last decade shows that this really isn’t the case.
Zero Champions League titles between City and PSG speaks volumes, with neither club able to climb the mountain to reach the summit of the European game.
For all their wealth they have also struggled domestically, with PSG losing titles to Monaco and Lille in recent seasons.
Liverpool have also shown that it is possible to compete with City, as Arsenal have also proven this campaign.
Even Man United themselves have won a title during the Abu Dhabi era at the Etihad, comfortably winning the 2012-13 season with an impressive 89 points.
Chelsea’s level of spending under their new owners has also shown the kind of purchasing power a club at the top level possesses even without state ownership.
While Ratcliffe has his own issues — there are no ethical billionaires — he does represent the only public hope of preventing United’s history from being used as a PR tool to smooth over the reputation of a nation with a horrific human rights record.
And it is absolutely possible for United to be competitive with an owner of this economic standing.
Just look at this period under the Glazers themselves post-Ferguson.
The club has been a total mess, a shell of its former glory, but has still won the League Cup, the FA Cup, the Europa League and has come 2nd in the table on two occasions while qualifying for the Champions League on a regular basis.
These aren’t quite the same heights as before, but for a level of massive underperformance it still represents a more successful period than the average club has enjoyed.
That optimism around the team at Old Trafford has arrived under the Glazer ownership only proves how deluded those backing Qatar’s attempted takeover of United are being.
The next week could only go to strengthen the argument of those opposing it.
Thanks for reading this week’s return of Declan’s Newsletter with the inaugural edition of Away Goals Rule.
Next week will see the first edition of Final Corner, Chequered Flag, which I hope will be of interest to those following F1 — and perhaps could be a good entry point for those who don’t.
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Enjoy the rest of your week and have a great weekend!